(03/25/2018) "I Am The Resurrection"

Detail from the mural at the Biblical Museum (Dallas ,Texas) showing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Today, Palm Sunday and heading toward Resurrection Sunday, reply is on death, resurrection (“standing up from the dead”), and the possibilities for eternal life from GOD.  Correctly understood resurrection is required for the completion of divine judgment:  Those who appear for tribunal in the presence of divinity must be alive.  Developing believers begin their eternal life through baptism, and their judgment is completed while they are still on the earth.  For the saved, after the Advent (some say, his appearing; the harvest; the Rapture; the Second Coming) mortality will no longer appear among the saints of the kingdom.  The second resurrection will be for judgment of the wicked and the unjust.  Those who do not qualify to continue duration as immortal, incorruptible companions of divinity will be destroyed in the second death.  One of the fighters in the “Yahoo! Answers” forum using the ID “Anonymous” (no profile data shown) posted the following:

When people drop dead they stay dead. Why are Christians and Muslims unable to understand this basic fact of reality?

THE GOLDEN ARROW:  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:  and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:  on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.  (Revelation 20:  4-6, King James Version, KJV)

THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  The Pattern To Follow? (01/19/2018); The Most Important Thing (12/28/2017); Christ Is The Firstborn (12/26/2017); “Logical Sense” Is Replaced? (12/05/2017); About Using “Sacred Logic” (11/19/2017); Having Consciousness of Death (11/03/2017); Sacred Baptism, Divine Resurrection? (09/14/2017); Resurrected With The Lord (04/16/2017); The Cross and Resurrection Sunday? (03/16/2016) 

“Anonymous”, Christian believers trust that Jesus Christ is the divine person who administers and has demonstrated “resurrection from the dead.”  While on jury duty I learned, it may be a matter of two different five-letter words in a criminal trial that a man and woman were seen quarreling on a public street.  The eyewitnesses may all agree that they did see the pair; however, one witness might report he saw a man arguing with his wife.  A second witness might say he saw a brother arguing with his sister.  A third witness might have assumed it was a pimp and a prostitute.  Both the prosecution and the defense will use the same “f-a-c-t-s” to establish different presentations of “t-r-u-t-h.”

Those relying on secular knowledge must use information and finite tools (e.g., animal instinct, intellect, logic, carnal reason, discursive thought) that do not respond to actualities, possibilities, and aspects of truth that pertain to invisible, yet, active spirit substance within the living.  Where existence and life are explained as having origin beyond a questionable chemical process (a big bang?), and personhood is attributed to a Creator and Maker, it becomes understandable that accountability, authority, awe (awesomeness; fear of the Lord), and multiple aspects of divine fullness also may be realized.  Thus, even developing believers acknowledge inseparable aspects within the makeup of Deity such as anointing, faith, holiness, longsuffering, lovingkindness, righteousness, sovereign will (willpower), wisdom, and wrath against sin.

Mature Christians trust that, to demonstrate inarguably the power of GOD to establish Creation, life and death, sacred law and judgment, the Word (breath, life essence, spirit, utterance) from GOD has appeared in the earth using human form.  Among other aspects of law, promise, and prophecy, the Incarnation of GODhead (the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit) was required because of men, women, and children becoming terrified at the sound of a divine voice.  GOD agreed to never again proclaim his word from heaven as was done for Moses and those who left Egypt in exodus.  Even so, in judgment, Christians rely on sacred knowledge.  The multiple streams of testimony, truth, and witness recorded as “the Bible” are affirmed and corroborated using thousands of events within thousands of lives over the course of thousands of years.  Consider again the following that uses language from the Bible:

(1.)  Proverbs 8:  4-9, King James Version (KJV):  4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.  5 O ye simple, understand wisdom:  and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.  6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.  7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.  8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.  9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

(2.)  2nd Peter 1:  2-8, KJV:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:  that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(3.)  John 11:  21-27, KJV:  21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.  23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.  24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.  25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?  27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord:  I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

There is far more to be said, brought into deliberation, and spiritually apprehended.  (For example, (4.)  1st Corinthians 15:  12-22, KJV:  12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?  13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.  15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:  whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.  16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:  17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(12/04/2013) Is Science the Right Tool?

Today, I share some thoughts responding to a another blog writer’s discussion that described science as being built up from facts like a house from a pile of stones (see caliope, A Different Perspective (December 3, 2013) 12: 29 AM @ http://caliope.thoughts.com/posts/a-different-perspective--2).  The BATTLE AXE continues focus on the topic of need for a one-time, world-wide revelation of GOD.


THE BATTLE AXE:  Reveal Himself to All? (12/03/2013)—After centuries of our living in the earth, mankind’s need is for more than simply a carnal or material visitation from heaven, or a one-time visible display of divinity.  Human history now shows that created beings and living creatures must have a continuing access to GOD that in turn requires transformation of mortal to immortal, of corruptible to incorruptible.  The need is for divine law that is internalized as a permanent aspect of ones own being; there must be direct access to and intimate relationship with GOD; and, surely as there must be final resolution of all conflict and charges against mankind, there must be full vindication and answer for all charges against GOD.  Redemption of the body must occur, wherein mankind is restored to the spirit-being perfection that has already been confirmed and displayed in Jesus Christ.  (See Romans 8:  6-23, and Revelation 21:  2-4 and 22-24, KJV.)


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  (Colossians 2:  6-10, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  A Start for the Idea of GOD? (09/09/2013); The Bible and Genealogy (09/10/2013); Science and the Laws of Nature? (03/23/2013); How To Love GOD? (03/24/2013); Life Given By Knowledge? (04/03/2013); A Spirit Church? (04/04/2013); Prosperity Destroys Fools (09/25/2012)


One way of speaking about the importance and value of science is to say, science supplies a set of rules we can use to organize the many details and forms of information that come to us as human experience.  Many who rate science above godliness and spiritual knowledge appear to feel that using science we can control and predict events and aspects of experience, and even produce material and physical changes and useful products that otherwise could not be (such as computers, satellite radio, and smart phones).  However, those who correctly participate in the application and development of science also observe the rule that “scientific truth” is limited, and is only valid when taken with specific circumstances, conditions, inputs, procedures, and stimuli.

Consider this:  When we want to drive a nail to hang a picture, and can’t find the hammer, we might take off one of our shoes to “bam” the nail into the wall.  Even though it is not the proper tool, using the shoe works.  We hang the picture.  Yet, where we want to build a house, the shoe is useless—just as when we want to walk a mile, we don’t slip a hammer under our feet.  There are situations wherein we absolutely must have the proper tools, for only the proper tool will do.

In considering the things of being, existence and life, science is like a shoe, where faith is like the hammer.  Science alone allows us to complete certain focused works as in agriculture, mathematics, medicine and technology.  However, those same sciences are useless for completely comprehending the things of divine wonder that are displayed daily among us in birth, death, sin, forgiveness, love, rebirth, repentance, sanctification, and sacred wisdom.

There is far more to be said, correctly shared, and spiritually understood.  (For example, many who promote science do so from pride, not from first-hand experience, knowledge and research.  They are like users of smart phones who say, “I can’t live without it”, yet, think they can exist without an inner spirit, or divine content.  By speaking as though they can not endure change without the power and presence of the lifeless object, they say in effect, “I worship an idol; the smart phone is my god.”  Many who get a new smart phone, study the booklets and manual provided in order to learn the technology, and may experiment to discover all the possibilities of their new tool.  There are others—who even may be unable to read or write beyond a third grade level—who learn to use their phones with the help of family and friends who demonstrate the features.  In both cases, what the smart phone user truly wants is the security that the darn thing will work when they need it.  Those who want to “talk smack,” will brag about how much they paid, how many apps, how many functions.  Some will use their phone like stalkers, calling all hours of the day and night in artificial and exaggerated efforts to make themselves inseparable from others, and unforgettable.  The “smart” smart phone users will be those getting the most from their tool by putting it to necessary work, and by its balanced, correct, full and regular use.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.  We are commanded to be blameless and harmless, the sons and daughters of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we are to shine as lights in the world.  Happy Hanukkah to all. 

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC